Steering device equipped with air bag

• US 5,871,233 A
• Filed: 11/18/1996
• Issued: 02/16/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 11/24/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai RIKA Denki Seisakusho
• Original Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Tokai RIKA Denki Seisakusho
• Inventors: Tanaka, Hideki, Sakurai, Katsuo
• Primary Examiner(s): Nelson, Peter A.
• Application Number:
  US08/751,678
• Time in Patent Office: 820 Days
• Field of Search: 280/777, 280/780
• US Class Current: 280/777
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2021/0074 Utility vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/203 in steering wheels or steering columns
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 22/1952 Transmission of tensioning power by cable; Return motion locking means therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 1/184 Mechanisms for locking columns at selected positions
• CPC Class Codes: B62D 1/197 incorporating devices for preventing ingress of the steering column into the passengers space in case of accident

Abstract

A steering device equipped with an air bag, in which the air bag is completely inflated and expanded in a state in which a steering wheel has been moved in a direction toward a driver when a vehicle suddenly decelerates. The steering device equipped with the air bag has a driving device which tilts the steering wheel toward the driver when the vehicle suddenly decelerates and includes a pawl, a tilt cam, a connected member, a wire, and a pretensioner and a holding device which maintains a tilted state of the steering wheel and includes a lock member and a lock plate. When the vehicle suddenly decelerates, the wire is pulled, the tilt cam rotates, and the pawl moves away from a steering support. The steering wheel is tilted a maximum amount toward the driver, this state is maintained by the holding device, and the air bag inflates and expands. Accordingly, the steering wheel is oriented toward the driver and an expanded air bag is oriented toward the driver such that kinetic energy of the driver is effectively absorbed.

Claims

1. A steering device equipped with an air bag, comprising:

a steering wheel at which an air bag, which expands when a vehicle suddenly decelerates, is provided;

driving means for tilting said steering wheel toward a driver when the vehicle suddenly decelerates;

holding means for maintaining a tilted state of said steering wheel; and

a tilt adjusting mechanism connected to said driving means which changes and adjusts an angle of said steering wheel at times when the vehicle is in an ordinary state, wherein said driving means includes a connected member connected to a region within said tilt adjusting mechanism which changes the angle of said steering wheel;

a wire, one end of said wire being connected to said connected member; and

a pretensioner connected to another end of said wire.

4. A steering device equipped with an air bag according to claim 1, wherein said region within said tilt adjusting mechanism is a tilt cam which is interlocked with a tilt lever provided within said tilt adjusting mechanism and operated in order to change and adjust the angle of said steering wheel.

5. A steering device equipped with an air bag according to claim 1, wherein a collision acceleration sensor is connected to said pretensioner, and when said sensor detects a sudden deceleration of the vehicle, said pretensioner is operated so as to pull in said wire.

6. A steering device equipped with an air bag according to claim 1, wherein said holding means is provided at an intermediate portion of said wire, and said holding means includes:

a base having a rectangular opening portion, ratchet teeth being formed at an inner periphery of said opening portion;

a slider to which said wire is connected;

a lock member connected to said slider, and inserted into said opening portion of said base, and moving together with said slider; and

a lock plate connected to said lock member via a plate spring, and having ratchet teeth which engage with said ratchet teeth of said base.

7. A steering device equipped with an air bag according to claim 1, wherein said holding means includes:

a lock pin formed at an element which is integral with said steering wheel; and

a lock mechanism formed at a fixed member, and when said steering wheel is tilted toward a driver, said lock mechanism engages with said lock pin so as to be unable to separate from said lock pin.

8. A steering device equipped with an air bag according to claim 7, wherein said fixed member is a steering support provided within said tilt adjusting mechanism, and said element which is integral with said steering wheel is a column upper tube provided within said tilt adjusting mechanism and rotatably shaft-supported at said steering support.

9. A steering device equipped with an air bag according to claim 7, wherein said lock mechanism includes:

an engagement hole disposed on a locus of movement of said lock pin which movement is caused by tilting of said steering wheel toward a driver, said engagement hole engaging said lock pin; and

a stopper portion provided at an entrance to said engagement hole.

10. A steering device equipped with an air bag according to claim 1, wherein when the vehicle suddenly decelerates, before the air bag expands, said driving means tilts said steering wheel toward a driver.

19. The steering device equipped with an airbag according to claim 1, further comprising:

a steering column tube; and

a steering support fixed to the steering column tube, wherein the driving means further includes a pawl which, in an ordinary state of the vehicle, engages with the steering further support, the pawl disengaging from the steering support when the vehicle suddenly decelerates.

2. A steering device equipped with an air bag, comprising:

a steering wheel at which an air bag, which expands when a vehicle suddenly decelerates, is provided;

driving means for tilting said steering wheel toward a driver when the vehicle suddenly decelerates, said driving means including;

a connected member connected to a region within said tilt adjusting mechanism which changes the angle of said steering wheel;

a wire, one end of said wire being connected to said connected member; and

a pretensioner connected to another end of said wire; and

holding means for maintaining a tilted state of said steering wheel, said holding means including;

a lock pin formed at an element which is integral with said steering wheel; and

a lock mechanism formed at a fixed member, and when said steering wheel is tilted toward a driver, said lock mechanism engages with said lock pin so as to be unable to separate from said lock pin.

3. A steering device equipped with an air bag according to claim 2, wherein said region within said tilt adjusting mechanism is a tilt cam which is interlocked with a tilt lever provided within said tilt adjusting mechanism and operated in order to change and adjust the angle of said steering wheel.

15. A steering device equipped with an air bag according to claim 2, wherein a collision acceleration sensor is connected to said pretensioner, and when said sensor detects a sudden deceleration of the vehicle, said pretensioner is operated so as to pull in said wire.

16. A steering device equipped with an air bag according to claim 2, wherein said fixed member is a steering support provided within said tilt adjusting mechanism, and said element which is integral with said steering wheel is a column upper tube provided within said tilt adjusting mechanism and rotatably shaft-supported at said steering support.

17. A steering device equipped with an air bag according to claim 2, wherein said lock mechanism includes:

an engagement hole disposed on a locus of movement of said lock pin which movement is caused by tilting of said steering wheel toward a driver, said engagement hole engaging said lock pin; and

a stopper portion provided at an entrance to said engagement hole.

18. A steering device equipped with an air bag according to claim 2, wherein when the vehicle suddenly decelerates, before the air bag expands, said driving means tilts said steering wheel toward a driver.

11. A steering device equipped with an air bag, comprising:

a steering wheel at which an air bag, which expands when a vehicle suddenly decelerates, is provided;

driving means for tilting said steering wheel toward a driver when the vehicle suddenly decelerates, said driving means including;

a connected member connected to a region within said tilt adjusting mechanism which changes the angle of said steering wheel;

a wire, one end of said wire being connected to said connected member; and

a pretensioner connected to another end of said wire; and

holding means provided at an intermediate portion of said wire so as to maintain a tilted state of said steering wheel, said holding means including;

a base having a rectangular opening portion, ratchet teeth being formed at an inner periphery of said opening portion;

a slider to which said wire is connected;

a lock member connected to said slider, and inserted into said opening portion of said base, and moving together with said slider; and

a lock plate connected to said lock member via a plate spring, and having ratchet teeth which engage with said ratchet teeth of said base.

12. A steering device equipped with an air bag according to claim 11, wherein said region within said tilt adjusting mechanism is a tilt cam which is interlocked with a tilt lever provided within said tilt adjusting mechanism and operated in order to change and adjust the angle of said steering wheel.

13. A steering device equipped with an air bag according to claim 11, wherein a collision acceleration sensor is connected to said pretensioner, and when said sensor detects a sudden deceleration of the vehicle, said pretensioner is operated so as to pull in said wire.

14. A steering device equipped with an air bag according to claim 11, wherein when the vehicle suddenly decelerates, before the air bag expands, said driving means tilts said steering wheel toward a driver.